1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to collapsible vehicle shelters such as those having a structure made of assembled tubular members and cross-members and a complementary covering therefor made of a flexible plastic material and, more particularly, to a roll-up door for the door opening defined at the front of such vehicle shelters.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The present invention relates to roll-up closures for use in collapsible automobile shelters of the type illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,887,627 issued on Dec. 19, 1989 to Audet. Audet discloses an improved collapsible shelter comprising a structure made up of tubular members and cross-members forming an assembly having side walls diverging from top to bottom and a roof section with the structure being covered by a covering complementary in shape to the assembled structure and made up of a weather proof flexible plastic material. At the front of the shelter, there is defined an opening which, in the Audet patent, is rectangular and is closed by curtain-type flexible plastic sheet doors provided on one or two sides of the opening. The opening is obviously intended for allowing the vehicle to access the shelter.
In other shelters, the front opening extends the whole width of the shelter, that is from side wall to side wall of the assembled structure, thereby having the shape of an isosceles trapezoid. Such openings are practical as they are as large as the shelter itself. However, it is difficult to adapt any closure to such a trapezoid-shaped opening and, to this date, roll-up curtain-type flexible closures have been used therefor with these closures being manually rolled-up from one side of the assembled structure laterally towards the other side thereof, whereat they are retained by strings.
Also known is a rectangular closure made of the same flexible material as the vehicle shelter itself which by way of cables and pulleys can be manually raised, in a way more or less similar to horizontal Venetian blinds, towards its retracted position. A number of spaced apart horizontally extending elongated rigid members are fixed to the closure so that the closure includes three sections which fold substantially like conventional garage doors. The sides of the closure are guided in a pair of parallel vertical rigid frame members.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,495,736 issued on Jan. 29, 1985 to Lamontagne discloses a vehicle shelter intended to house the front engine compartment of the automobile. This shelter includes a flexible canvas which surrounds the engine compartment substantially up to the windshield of the vehicle. Warm air is blown under the engine compartment so as to warm not only the crank-case but also the battery and other parts situated therein. The shelter is provided with a vertically rolled-up conventional and rudimentary closure 9. U.S. Pat. No. 4,150,682 issued on Apr. 24, 1979 to Ryce discloses a vehicle shelter comprising a closet-type enclosure with doors which contains a plurality of arched hoops having ground engaging skids and with a flexible covering being attached to these arched hoops. In storage, the hoops and the covering are retracted into the enclosure. The hoops may be pulled out manually from the enclosure and over a car parked in front thereof. The shelter itself does not actually include any flexible door for access thereto, when expanded.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,123,474 issued on Jun. 23, 1992 to Smith discloses a roll-up closure device made of a flexible material which is rolled-up on a motor driven tubular cylindrical drum journalled at the ends thereof on bearings. The closure is guided in vertical tracks which define therebetween a rectangular opening with the closure being of rectangular complementary shape.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,042,556 issued on Aug. 27, 1991 to Ruiter discloses a door assembly for a rectangular doorway opening, such as a garage opening, which comprises a flexible door panel which is guided around rotatable guide wheels between a vertical closed position and a horizontal open position.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,878,879 issued on Apr. 22, 1975 to Manns discloses a roll-up door having a flexible door-leaf arranged to be wound about a roller for closing and opening the rectangular door with trolleys running in guide rails being located at the vertical side frames for maintaining the door-leaf in a laterally stretch condition, and with a movable pulley loaded by a weight being provided for maintaining the door-leaf in a vertically stretched position.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,495 issued on Nov. 17, 1992 to Lichy discloses a closure assembly for closing a rectangular opening which comprises a pair of vertical guides and a closure member engaged in the guides so that the closure member can slide along the guides. The closure member includes a pair of vertical tape-shaped tracking members disposed on opposite edges thereof and which are retained within the guides. A biasing assembly which enhances lateral tension on the closure member is also suggested.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,749,107 issued on Jul. 31, 1973 to Laberge discloses a collapsible shelter which comprises a plurality of upstanding parallel spaced apart arched members, the lower ends of which being received in a pair of channels fixed to the ground. A flexible covering is spread over the arched members with the lower edges of this covering being held by the channels.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,463,174 issued on Aug. 26, 1969 to Heller discloses a portable cover structure for a vehicle, wherein foldable frame sections have curtain tracks attached thereto, the frame sections being pivotally hinged so as to form, when expanded, a continuous covered level frame defining an uninterrupted curtain track which receives a curtain for completely enclosing the level frame.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,886,104 issued on May 12, 1959 to Swan discloses an awning of rectangular shape which can be displaced between an inoperative retracted position and an operative extended position wherein, when extended, the awning will provide a roof enclosure having its fabric maintained in a taut condition.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,460,602 issued on Aug. 12, 1969 to Hugus discloses a tensioning device for a rectangular flexible roll-up closure, wherein the flexible closure membrane is fastened to a bottom rail which is displaceable relative to an upper roller around which the membrane can be wound and unwound as the closure opens and closes. Tension is applied to the flexible closure membrane by way of a spring and cable system which biases the bottom rail away from the upper roller. The membrane is guided along a pair of vertical trackways.